‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Developers Announce ‘Atlas’

The creators of “ARK: Survival Evolved” revealed their new project during “The Game Awards 2018”: “Atlas,” a sea-faring pirate fantasy in the vein of games like “Sea of Thieves.”

The game is quite large, about 1200 times the size of a single “ARK: Survival Evolved” server, and will encourage players to explore, conquer, and eventually build an armada. In short, it looks like it’s very much a pirate’s life for anyone who jumps into the world of “Atlas.”

The ambitious open world’s reveal trailer shows off combat between hulking pirate ships, underwater exploration, first-person brawls, and a much more. There’s plenty of room to do it all in, as well, as the game will feature support for 40,000 concurrent players.

There’s a wide variety of creatures such as livestock, ancient mythological beasts guarding treasure found under the sea, some of which were shown off in the official debut trailer.

Atlas utilizes a special new technology known as “WaveWorks” which you can see showcased in the trailer, as it bolsters the game with special, realistic water physics. For a game with focus on combat on the open seas, it needs all the extra oomph it can get to bolster such an enormous world.

Make sure to check out all of Variety’s “Game Awards 2018″ coverage from the red carpet and inside the awards themselves.